Samek / Bell Duo
Victoria Soames Samek: clarinet
Michael Bell: piano

Michael Bell studied at the R.N.C.M with Derryck Wyndham and Sulamita Aronovsky and at the State Academy of Music in Warsaw following the award of the ‘Chopin Fellowship’ from the Polish Government. Subsequent prizes at national and international competitions led to performances and broadcasts throughout Europe and in Australia and Africa.

Michael’s solo repertoire is diverse and extensive and includes over 30 concertos; he has given premieres new works by Peter Seabourne –Split Lark and Miroslav Spasov-Etudes for listeners for piano and electronics but he is also highly regarded as a Lieder accompanist and in Chamber Music. He is director of performance at the University of Keele and in 2008 established the Research Recital Series there.

‘his performancewas a brilliant technical achievement-but more than that a convincing characterisation’
The Guardian

‘Michael Bell is a pianist with an excellent technique; his playing was notable for its fluency and clarity’
Daily Telegraph